


sucker punched

by mirrordance



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, aomine swears a lot when he can't express himself, he's also a big dumb when he has a fat crush on kuroko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:23:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirrordance/pseuds/mirrordance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Fuck, I think I like someone," Aomine says.</p><p>Satsuki hums to herself. She begins to braid her hair and only nods, eyes closed, "That's right, Dai-chan."</p>
            </blockquote>





	sucker punched

When Aomine goes to the library, he has a set goal. He is there to look for the thinnest books possible when he researches paper topics. He is there to flip to a random page, finding one sentence that could work as a source requirement. It's a good system and keeps him with an average grade so he can pass with bland flying colors. When his professor handed back his paper with a solid bold C written on the corner last week, he thought, _I'm a genius._ That's just who he is.

He walks into the library, passing rows and rows of books, hands buried deep in his pockets. He makes a turn towards the science section to find journals on dolphins before passing someone with mute blue hair. He stops to look at the stacks of novels he's created around him. He tilts his head to read the title of the book he has in his hand. _The Tale of Genji_ , he reads.

He notices Aomine, putting his book down. “Hello,” he says. “Do you need help with anything?”

Aomine straightens up, “Me? No.” He clears his throat. “What are you doing here?” he asks defensively. 

"Reading,” he says. He runs a hand over his book, “It's quiet in this area.”

Aomine raises an eyebrow. He knows he's always scolded by Satsuki and others for his often apparent presence. “Am I being too loud for you?”

"No, but you are free to join me." He gestures to the empty chair across from him. Aomine hesitates, he would do practically anything to procrastinate another paper. He also has to admit the guy is pretty good looking. The ends of his hair curl slightly at the top of his ears and his striped top fits nicely on his small frame.

He's probably been staring for too long because the guy shifts and motions to the empty chair again. “Do you want to sit down?” he asks.

Aomine starts and straightens again, feeling a blush crawl up his face. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and ducks his head. He starts walking towards the science section without glancing back.

“I have to find shit about dolphins,” he says.

\--

Aomine has to go to the library again because he's forgotten he needs _three_ text sources instead of one. He still doesn't understand why professors do not bold their requirements. How exactly is he supposed to see them without it being emphasized in some way?

He huffs and pulls a beanie over his head. The weather is getting colder, the trees turning into warm orange hues around campus. He walks to the library slowly, blowing air into his hands and rubbing them together. 

“I could be sleeping right now,” he mutters under his breath as he passes through the library doors. He trudges back to the science section, pulling his beanie off because of the sudden warmth that radiates through the library. “I could do anything besides–” he sidetracks when he sees a flash of blue in the corner of his eye.

The guy he met earlier in the week sits in the same spot he saw him last time. He has another novel is in his hands with a few stacked next to him.

Aomine walks towards him, clutching the beanie in his hands. “Are you always here?” he calls out.

He looks up, pressing a finger into the pages to keep his place. “Yes,” he says simply.

“Do you not have any classes?”

“Of course I do.”

Aomine slides easily into the seat across from him, “Do you always read?”

“Yes, I do. It's my favorite hobby.” He moves to his right to slip a paper in his book as a bookmark before putting it on top of the stack of novels. “What is your name?” he asks. 

“Aomine,” he says.

“Nice to meet you, Aomine-kun. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya.”

 _Tetsuya, huh_. Aomine thinks of something soft but only at the edges, like the edges of a well worn book. Kuroko is looking at him again and Aomine shifts his weight uncomfortably at his gaze. For someone who looks as intimidating as Aomine, he is impressed by his forwardness. He steels himself and looks Kuroko straight in the eyes. He's serious for a moment, then eases back into his chair, grinning widely. 

“Nice to meet you too, Tetsu,” he says.

Kuroko doesn't bristle when Aomine calls him with a nickname of his first name. He just nods and goes back to reading.

Aomine finds himself forgetting more requirements for his biology paper, leading himself to the library where coincidentally, Kuroko is seated in the same spot, reading a different novel every single time.

\--

"Do you want to eat out with me?" Aomine asks Kuroko.

He hasn't admitted this to anyone but himself but he has no obvious reason to go to the library. He doesn't have a paper due anytime soon. He just goes to see Kuroko. It's the fourth time this week he has found himself walking there after every class. He's beginning to think Kuroko lied to him about having any classes because every time he makes the familiar turn towards the science section, he finds Kuroko reading.

Aomine likes that.

He has his own habit of wasting his life away doing something besides schoolwork. It might not be as productive as Kuroko's hobby but he likes to lie around doing absolutely nothing – occasionally ogling Horikita Mai magazines or playing basketball with his high school friends when he has the energy. Most of the time, Satsuki has to punch him in the gut to actually _do something_. 

Kuroko looks up from his novel and smiles. Aomine notes he only smiles when he really likes something. There was a time Aomine mentioned a book he had to read for his literature class and he has never seen Kuroko's eyes light up so brightly. Aomine wondered why his stomach clenched then fluttered at seeing that look. He asked Satsuki what it meant when she came from a late night class and she only laughed. Aomine is still very confused.

"Where are we going, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko questions, pressing the novel flat on the table. 

"I don't know, what do you like the most?"

"I like croquettes.

"Then we can get croquettes."

Kuroko raises his eyebrows and smirks, "Do you even like croquettes, Aomine-kun?" 

Aomine raises a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug, "I'm okay with them. I like burgers more."

"Then if Aomine-kun wants burgers we can get that too." He's smiling again and Aomine clenches his teeth because his stomach is doing that fluttering thing again and he wants it to stop.

"Shit," he mutters and Kuroko is already packing away some of the novels he's brought on his own while balancing borrowed ones with his other arm.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Kuroko stacks one more book in his arm before looking back at him and Aomine is cursing inwardly because he feels a blush creeping up his cheeks and he's irritated because no, he doesn't fucking _blush_ , yet he's done it several times in front of him. He wipes a palm over his face to stifle it but he still feels the burn. He groans quietly.

"No,” he says. He stands abruptly to pick up his backpack and turns. He stops to look back at Kuroko. "Let me help you with your books," he extends a hand to take a couple from his arms. Kuroko smiles. 

"Thank you, Aomine-kun," he says.

Aomine turns before he has the capacity to blush even more. _Fucking shit_ , he thinks.

\--

"I'm surprised that you have successfully gotten someone's number within the same week you've met them. This is so unlike you, Dai-chan. What exactly are you doing?" Satsuki presses, pushing his clothes off the couch.

As much as Aomine is a lazy ass, he knows he has to at least wash some of his clothes. He doesn't find it entirely too difficult with Satsuki next to him to command him to put the detergent in the washer and not the dryer or to put the darks with the darks. _I'm not entirely sure how you can fuck that up, Dai-chan_ , she said. _But you did. You're incredible sometimes_. Aomine wonders how he would ever survive without Satsuki. He fears the day when she will leave him. He hopes never.

Aomine stuffs shirts into their laundry basket, "Hey," he pauses to look at her, narrowing his eyes. She's wrinkling her nose at the pile of socks he's managed to create in the corner of the living room. "Tetsu asked for it first."

And when it happened, his throat clenched a little. He clumsily pulled out his phone, handing it over to him. Aomine wanted to pump his fists in the air in triumph for some reason.

"I'll text you sometime," Kuroko said, slipping his phone back into his bag, smiling softly at him. He was wearing his striped shirt again and Aomine had to stifle a happy sigh when he saw him.

Aomine nodded dumbly, dropping his phone on the ground in the process.

"But," Satsuki says while she shudders when she picks up one of Aomine's boxers to drop into the laundry basket. "What compelled him to ask you for your phone number?"

"Shit, I don't know," Aomine rubs at the nape of his neck, watching Satsuki struggle to shove more laundry into the basket. He dumps himself onto the couch, stretching his body over it. "Maybe he wants to show me some books?"

Aomine doesn't know what else he could text him about. He's noticed more how much Kuroko loves books because when they go out to eat, Kuroko can't help but mention one in their conversation every single time. Aomine doesn't mind it – actually, he loves it. He likes the way his eyes go bright as he talks.

Suddenly, Satsuki laughs loudly. She bellows it out and Aomine jumps at the sound. He sits up and widens his eyes at the way she clutches her stomach, bending over.

"Oh, Dai-chan," she wheezes. She stops laughing to look seriously at him. He leans away from her uncomfortably. "Do you really think so? After all these years, I still don't understand how you can be so dense."

She drags the basket into the laundry room leaving him alone. He blinks at her retreating figure.

"What the fuck," he says.

\--

Kuroko texts him the next morning and Aomine is genuinely surprised it's not about a book. It's probably because Aomine hasn't shown any interest in reading, only in the way Kuroko talks about them. He doesn't actually read when he sits with Kuroko in the library. He usually doodles and prods Kuroko with questions that he answers gracefully – as if it isn't irritating to be interrupted mid-read.

Aomine rubs his eyes, ridding them of sleep. He paws over his bedside table to find his phone. He blinks blearily when he sees the text, then widens his eyes in surprise when he registers what it says.

 _I found a restaurant you will like, Aomine-kun. Are you free for lunch?_ , it reads. Aomine swallows, his throat is horribly dry and he's in need of some water. He groans, rolling himself off his bed and stretches slowly, his phone still in his grasp. He runs the text over in his head when he pads to the kitchen, drinking a glass of water and then another to ease the flutters in his stomach. He realizes then he feels them often when he's around Kuroko. 

He's still trying to figure out why his body is doing all this weird shit because this only happens when he sees a new gravure magazine or when he gets a high when he plays basketball, his muscles moving with ease when he shoots a basket and – _oh_ , it makes a lot of sense now. 

He walks through the hallway and finds Satsuki in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet brushing her hair. He takes his toothbrush almost mechanically. He looks at his reflection in the mirror and swallows again. His throat is still very dry.

"Fuck, I think I like someone," Aomine says.

Satsuki hums to herself. She begins to braid her hair and only nods, eyes closed, "That's right, Dai-chan."

\--

Aomine thinks Kuroko is the best person that has ever come into his life apart from Satsuki. He's cute. He's smart because he reads a lot of books. He deals with Aomine's antics. And he knows how to pick restaurants Aomine will love because he feels like singing the minute he bites into the best burger he's ever had in his twenty years of living.

 _This is it_ , he thinks. _I have met the one_.

But the minute he looks up to try to talk to Kuroko – he eyes again how Kuroko's hair curls a little more since the first time he's met him and how Kuroko's eyes lid slightly when he's content in the food he eats – he feels like he can't speak or function correctly. "T-this is really good, Tetsu," he stammers out.

Kuroko smiles, his mouth closed – which Aomine realizes he likes _a lot_ – "I thought you would like it, Aomine-kun."

Aomine clenches his fist under the table, feeling his face get warm. He coughs loudly into his hand and proceeds to take a large bite of his burger. 

(An old couple look over disapprovingly at a large young man who can't seem to keep his voice down with his quiet and seemingly nice counterpart. 

They almost call out the manager when the smaller one offers the large one a bite of his food from his own spoon, curse words beginning to fly through the air.)

\--

"Okay, this is getting serious," Satsuki says from her perch on the armrest of the couch. "I've only seen you this happy after amazing basketball games. Or after you've gotten laid.” There's a moment where she's quiet and then she gasps.

“Oh my God,” she says loudly. “Dai-chan, Tetsu-kun sounds so nice. How could you take advantage of him like that? How could you–”

“Jesus,” Aomine says, “Give me some credit, would you, Satsuki? I didn't just sleep with him and leave.”

Aomine has one of his forearms pressed over his eyes to stop the looks Satsuki keeps shooting his way. It's partly because it is already half past two on a Saturday afternoon and he hasn't even gotten out of his boxers or gotten off the couch. And it's mostly because Aomine hasn't tried to confess his feelings to Kuroko – even if it has been more than a month since they've met each other. 

Aomine takes his arm away from his face and sees Satsuki looking down at him with her brows furrowed and arms crossed. "Have you even said anything to him yet?"

"I've talked to him a lot of times," he says.

She makes a small noise of frustration. "About how you feel, I mean," she says.

He groans and hides into his arm again, "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know how."

Satsuki laughs and smacks his arm, "Amazing. This is coming from the cockiest person I know. You would think people would see you and hear you and think you were the smoothest person alive."

Aomine sits up to throw a glare Satsuki's way but she's walking to the kitchen with her back to him. She pulls a box of cereal from the top of the fridge. She turns around and smiles, "Little do they know," then trails off to find a bowl.

He gets off the couch and walks to sit on the chair near the counter, "Hey, that's not nice, Satsuki."

She pours cereal, then milk and pushes the bowl towards Aomine. "I'm just being honest," she says. She rests on her elbows and leans towards him. "I would say you should be honest with him too."

He finally gets to glare at her and to his demise, she doesn't even flinch.

\--

For the next two weeks, Aomine goes out with Kuroko almost everyday and to Satsuki's disapproval, he hasn't said anything to him about how he's felt. He's beginning to think it may be better to just tell him how he feels because _shit_ , he splutters after every second sentence now and Kuroko only responds with small smirks and smiles – as if Aomine isn't being a mess.

"So what is it now?" Satsuki calls out from her bedroom. 

"I can't do it," Aomine says from the couch. Satsuki told him once he only goes there to mope. He's been doing it frequently these days.

"I haven't heard that one before," She pauses and Aomine sees her walk into the living room. She's dressed to go out while Aomine is once again only in his boxers. She puts a hand on her hip, "And why is that?"

"Don't ask me again, Satsuki."

"Why don't you try to do it through a letter or something if you're so shy?"

"Like wh– " Aomine sits up abruptly and grins widely at her. She looks back wide eyed and a little startled with the amount of energy he's managed to produce after lazing over the couch the whole morning. 

“I know,” he says.

"Why do I think this is going to be a bad idea?” she sighs.

\--

"I stand corrected. This isn't that bad of an idea," Satsuki says. "But this could go very wrong."

Aomine thinks of the times Kuroko texts him to bring him to another restaurant he knows he will like. Aomine is usually horrible at finding new restaurants so he usually settles with whatever he goes for. He wants to thank him in some way. The only thing he thinks will bring out the soft smiles he likes to see so much on Kuroko would be simple. He needs to find Kuroko a book.

He and Satsuki are standing at the entrance of a bookstore and Aomine feels a little lost. But he doesn't falter. He shrugs, putting his hands in his pockets, "How hard can it be to find a book?"

After half an hour, he almost changes his mind because there are just _too many_ options and Kuroko reads _too much_. What if he already has one of these books?

Satsuki bends down to look more closely at the books next to him, running her finger over the spines, "What genres does he like?"

"Everything," Aomine says. But he also remembers Kuroko telling him he has been into fantasy books recently. He applauds himself for remembering such small details. "Actually, fantasy books," he corrects, nodding smugly to himself.

Satsuki glances at him and makes a face at his expression, "Okay. Fantasy."

After another half hour, Aomine finds a book with a chess piece on it in the fantasy section. He looks at it for a moment before picking it up off the shelf, eyeing the cover carefully. "Breaking dawn," he reads, then tucks it under his arm. When he shows it to Satsuki, she just gives him a look, plucking it out of his grasp to put it back on a shelf nearby.

"Honestly, Dai-chan," she says when they finally walk out of the bookstore. After coming up fruitless, they asked a store clerk to help them find popular fantasy books. "You are hopeless. A very tall, in love hopeless man."

Aomine isn't listening, gripping the bag with the book in it tightly. He thinks of the ways Kuroko will look at him when he hands him the book.

\--

Aomine doesn't write a letter of confession for Kuroko. He was supposed to slip one into the book as Satsuki instructed but that means he's being a wimp. This isn't high school. This is the _real world_. Aomine Daiki is a brave man and if he is going to tell Kuroko, he will tell him in person.

Even though he hasn't actually done it yet. 

To his credit, he has done it multiple times in his head. 

When Aomine tells Kuroko about Breaking Dawn, he doesn't know why Kuroko laughs so hard. But Aomine doesn't question it and doesn't mind because Kuroko's laugh is the best thing he has ever heard.

 _I'm in too deep now_ , Aomine thinks after walking Kuroko up to his apartment.

\--

Before Aomine knows it, it's already finals week and he's back to the library with Kuroko sitting across from him reading the novel he gave him. They're sitting in comfortable silence when he looks up at Kuroko. He has a soft smile on his face as his eyes scan the text and Aomine doesn't realize he's been staring until Kuroko looks up and tilts his head at him.

"Do you need me to help you study, Aomine-kun?" he asks.

Aomine sighs and looks down at the pile of notes he has in front of him. None of them are legible. He presses a palm into his forehead, chuckling lightly, "I actually do." Aomine doesn't say he wants him to help mostly because he loves the way he reads things, quiet and soothing. 

Kuroko nods, closing his book and rising, "You are studying for your history exam, right?"

"Yeah," he says, getting up with him. Kuroko is walking through one of the stacks, looking around the rows of books. "I'm not good with history at all."

"That's fine," Kuroko says, stopping a few paces away from him. "I'm not that good either but I will help the best I can."

Aomine walks towards Kuroko, quickening when he sees him reaching for a book that he can only graze with his fingers because of his height. He reaches for it easily, pulling it out.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko says quietly. 

His voice sounds oddly urgent to Aomine so he looks down at him, "Yea–"

Aomine forgets what he is going to say because he feels lips pressed against his. 

He doesn't hear the murmurs of those around him in the library, or his own heart beating. He doesn't feel the flush he's so familiar with now creeping up his neck because there's only Kuroko and his lips moving with his own.

Kuroko has a hand fisted into his shirt when he parts and he's looking at him so fondly that Aomine almost feels a guilty that someone like him has someone like Kuroko looking at him like that.

“I like you, Aomine-kun,” he says. “I have liked you for some time.”

“Fuck,” Aomine says as eloquently as he can muster. “I– I just–” he stammers. He runs a hand through his cropped hair, his other reaching to cup on the side of Kuroko's neck. 

He shakes his head and looks down at the ground before saying, “You're really cool and shit, I don't really know how you managed to want to hang out with _me_ out of anyone because Satsuki says I'm horrible and I don't appreciate it. But you're really the best. And I–” He looks up and Kuroko is looking at him patiently. He knows he won't push him to say more so Aomine frustratedly plows on. He's gone too far now.

“I like you, okay? I like you when you wear those dumb blue shirts that match your eyes and I like you when you eat at my favorite burger place even though I know it's not your favorite. I like you when you read across from me. And I just – I like you a lot, Tetsu.”

Aomine knows if Satsuki were here, she would smack a palm to his forehead and go, _No, Dai-chan_. But it doesn't really matter when Kuroko takes his hand and laces his fingers with Aomine's.

“Me too,” he says.

\--

“You know,” Kuroko says as Aomine hands him a croquette. They're sitting on a bench outside of a convenience store near the library, their hands still laced together. “I thought you were really attractive the first time I met you, Aomine-kun.”

Aomine chokes on his food. He coughs to clear his throat then swallows painfully. “Really?” He asks. Kuroko nods and smiles at him, squeezing his hand. 

“Yes,” he says. 

Aomine says nothing but feels the flutters in his stomach again. He actually likes this – the way their hands fit so well together, the way he manages to act like an idiot every single time he's around Kuroko while he stays as calm and collected as ever. _At least one of us has got it together_ , he thinks. 

He squeezes Kuroko's hand back and thinks he could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> when i was looking for songs to play while writing this, i came across one direction's one thing and laughed for a hundred years because that's basically aomine's whole story in this fic in a song. 
> 
> also momoi is a babe. i love her a lot.


End file.
